The editorial page of the New York Times recently weighed in on an important but underappreciated aspect of the financial crisis: The systematic targeting of communities of color for risky and unfair loans. As the Times put it:

Millions of Americans are still suffering the effects of the subprime mortgage meltdown. More than four million homeowners have been foreclosed upon already, and nearly 11 million are "underwater," that is, they owe more on their mortgages than their…

In an ideal world, a rising tide really would lift all boats. But we know it doesn’t work like that. And, as a new report shows, when the tide goes out, not every boat is equally likely to get stranded.